Grayville, Illinois

City: Grayville

County: Edwards, White

State: Illinois

Lat/Long: 38.257387, -87.990681

Grayville, Illinois, is a town situated in Edwards and White counties, southwest of Mount Carmel, Illinois, and northwest of Evansville, Indiana. Originally known as Bon Pas, the town came to be named for James Gray, who moved from Kentucky to Carmi, Illinois, around 1816, and platted Grayville in 1826 or 1828. In January 1837, the U.S. Post Office Department established a post office in the area, and in January 1839, the citizens agreed to incorporate Grayville as a village under a board of trustees. In 1851, the Illinois General Assembly passed a law incorporating Grayville as a town, but the residents voted against incorporation. In March 1855, the General Assembly again passed a law incorporating Grayville as a town, and residents approved the incorporation.

History of White County, Illinois (Chicago: Inter-State, 1883), 737-40; James N. Adams, comp., Illinois Place Names (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Society, 1989), 378; "An Act to Incorporate the Town of Grayville, White County," 5 May 1851, Private Laws of Illinois (1851), 237-41; "An Act to Incorporate the Town of Grayville, in the Counties of White and Edwards," 4 March 1855, Private Laws of Illinois (1855), 203-11.